The United States is losing its competitive edge.
So says a new report from the World Economic Forum which found the U.S. slipping in dozens of areas compared with just a few years ago. Perhaps most troubling is the conclusion that since 2008, the United States has slid from No. 1 in the world in "global competitiveness" to No. 7 this year.
Out-ranking America are: Switzerland, Singapore, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.
Sure, it's just a number. But the WEF's ranking takes into account a broad range of factors, from debt to corruption to regulation to red tape to education to health care.
And virtually across the board, the U.S. is falling behind.
"The slide in the global competitiveness report is almost certainly due to ... policy-related factors," James Gwartney, economics professor at Florida State University, told FoxNews.com. Gwartney, with dozens of other institutes, has co-authored a separate report on economic freedom set to be unveiled next week.
The World Economic Forum study reflected both the slack in the U.S. economy from the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, and the increasing anxiety over the nation's skyrocketing debt, among other factors.
In the latest report, the U.S. ranked at number 140 out of 144 on its government deficit as a percentage of GDP. The U.S. ranked at 97 four years ago.
The ranking on "public trust in politicians" has likewise fallen, from 41 to 54. The ranking on government wastefulness fell from 67 to 76. On government regulation, it fell from 50 to 76.